My top Olympic moments

1) Michael Phelps gets fifth gold medal and lets teammateCocker swim the relay. Michael Phelps, who has won five gold medals in the Olympic pool, said Friday he was pulling out of Saturday's 4x100 meter medley relay final to give team mate Ian Crocker the chance to swim. Phelps, who beat Crocker in a desperately close 100 meter butterfly final Friday, said he wanted his team mate to have the spot because he had not been feeling well when he swam in the U.S. 4x100 freestyle relay squad, who were beaten into third place in the final last Sunday. Michael Phelps clinched his fifth gold medal and became the first man since Mark Spitz to hold four individual Olympic swimming titles when he won the 100 meter butterfly final Friday.

2) Mia Hamm and Fab Five win soccer gold. Abby Wambach powered home a header in the 22nd minute of extra time in Athens to give the U.S. their second Olympic title after winning at the 1996 Atlanta Games. The United States gave Hall of Famer Mia Hamm the perfect send-off on Thursday, beating Brazil 2-1 to win Olympic gold in the women's soccer tournament. For Hamm, widely regarded as the best ever female player, it was a fitting end to a glittering 17-year career. The other members of the Fab Five are Brandi Chastain, Joy Fawcett, Kristine Lilly and captain Julie Foudy.

3) Paul Hamm's amazing comeback to win Gymnastics All-around. Paul Hamm etched his name into the record books as he became the first American man to win the Olympic gymnastics all-round crown Wednesday. I thought after the vault I cost myself any medal. My thought was I should shoot for bronze," said a jubilant Hamm after adding the Olympic gold to the world title he won last August. Mounting the horizontal bar trailing in fourth place, Hamm completed his gravity-defying routine to perfection and threw his arms up in the air in victory even before the judges had declared their verdict. His final score of 9.837 was enough to edge out South Korean's Kim Dae-eun by just 0.012 of a point and spark off ecstatic celebrations around the Olympic Indoor Hall.

4) May and Walsh perfect on the beach. Called by some the best women's beach volleyball team ever, May and Walsh finished off their first Olympic competition together with a perfect record and a gold medal after beating Brazil 21-17, 21-11, in the final match.

5) Carly Patterson upstaged Russian diva Svetlana Khorkina to become the first American in 20 years to win the women's Olympic gymnastics all-round gold medal. The 16-year-old Patterson put on a fearless display to win the title with a score of 38.387 and emulate the feat of compatriot Mary Lou Retton at Los Angeles in 1984. Khorkina, favorite for the title and competing in her third and final Olympics, failed to match her young rival and was edged out by 0.176 of a point to finish second. The last competitor to perform the floor exercise, the American teen-ager knew she had to score higher than 9.536 to beat Khorkina. Patterson performed the routine of her young life, landing each of three linked tumbling combinations to perfection. As the music ended, Patterson tearfully fell into the arms of her coach and the crowd leaped to their feet. A score of 9.712 handed Patterson the gold, leaving the 25-year-old Khorkina to reflect on her third failed attempt to grab the top individual prize.

6) Phelps gets first gold. Pumped by Eminem rapping in his earphones, the 19-year-old from Baltimore broke his own world record by 0.15 seconds to win the 400 meters individual medley in four minutes 08.26 seconds. Pressure was on Phelps to win as many as eight golds in these Olympics.

7) U.S. Mens basketball Dream Team loses. The United States crashed to its second defeat in the Olympic men's basketball tournament Saturday when a late shooting spree by Sarunas Jasikevicius propelled Lithuania to a 94-90 victory. Overlooked by the NBA after graduating from the University of Maryland, Jasikevicius scored 11 of his team's last 12 points to bring it from a point down to three up before unbeaten Lithuania closed the game with another free throw. "There was an awe when playing the Americans maybe 17 or 18 years ago, but a lot of countries have caught up," Jasikevicius said after his shooting spree in the last three minutes set his team up to win Group B at the tournament.

8)Men's 4x100 swim relay wins gold for Phelps. Michael Phelps got his eighth medal at the Athens Olympics Saturday without even getting wet when the United States broke the world record in the men's 4x100 meters medley relay. The 19-year-old American did not swim the final, the last swimming race at the Games, after giving up his spot to Ian Crocker but still gets a medal because he raced in the heats. After a grueling week's work, he ending up with eight medals to match Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin's 1980 record for the most medals at one Games. Crocker, swimming butterfly, teamed up with backstroker Aaron Peirsol, breaststroker Brendan Hansen and freestyle anchorman Jason Lezak to finish first in three minutes 30.68 seconds, 0.86 inside the previous world record the U.S. set at last year's world championships.

9) Women's softball domintates. The United States dominated the competition in Athens, rolling off nine straight wins and only allowing one run to be scored against them in all those games. It was the third straight gold for the Americans, who have won 79 straight games in international competition.

10) Women's freestyle relay break 17 year record to win gold. Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer and Kaitlin Sandeno stormed home in the women's 4x200 meters freestyle relay in seven minutes 53.42 seconds to break the oldest mark in swimming exactly 17 years after it had been set. "A world record is a world record, no matter who does it," Coughlin said. "We're the fastest ever and that's an amazing feeling. "Going into the relay I had no idea that it was an East German record. I just knew that we were really, really close to it last year, that we were stronger than we were, and I knew we could do it."

11) Farni Halkia becomes Greek heroine. Fani Halkia hurtled from virtual obscurity to become Olympic women's 400 meters hurdles champion on Wednesday, giving Greece a new sports diva to hail but sparking a barrage of questions over her rise to prominence. "All Greeks athletes need is a lot of soul and hard work to come first," said Halkia, 25, a relative unknown a year ago. Halkia, a former high jumper who quit athletics and became a journalist before making a dramatic comeback, won in a time of 52.82 seconds to claim the gold medal by more than half a second, the largest margin of victory in the last five Olympics.

12) Natalie Coughlin finally gets her gold. Natalie Coughlin's run of bad luck finally took a turn for the better when she won the gold medal in the women's 100 meters backstroke at the Athens Olympics Monday. The Californian won the final in one minute 00.37 seconds -- just 0.79 seconds outside her own world record -- to add the Olympic title to the world crown she won three years ago. It's too hard to put into words," Coughlin said. "I have had so many ups and downs over the past years but I have a gold medal now and I have it for life."

13) Women's basketball shows-up men with gold. The U.S. women took their third consecutive gold medal in Olympic basketball on Saturday, breaking open a close game in the fourth quarter to beat Australia 74-63.

14) Amanda Beard gets her first gold in eight years. Amanda Beard credited her new-found maturity for ending an eight-year wait for a second Olympic gold medal in Athens Thursday. The 22-year-old American swam a superb final to touch out Australia's Leisel Jones in a 200 meters breaststroke dual between two women best known for crumbling under pressure.Beard tracked Jones down over the last lap to clock an Olympic record of two minutes, 23.37 seconds as she finally came of age after bursting onto the international swimming scene as a 14-year-old at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

U.S. Fab Five

The U.S. women's soccer team gave us much more than two World Cup championships (1991 and 1999) and two Olympic gold medals (1996 and 2004). They taught a nation a woman could be an athlete, too. Led by what some people are calling the "Fab Five" - Jullie Foudy, Joy Fawcett, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Brandi Chastain , the U. S. women's soccer team has become the benchmark for women's soccer worldwide. That's the legacy the Fab Five has left. More than medals, the U.S. women have spread soccer not just around the U.S. but also around the globe. In the past, there have been several women that have exceled as individuals in sports on an international stage, but the women's soccer team was the first team to do it by wiining the World Cup in 1991. At that time the door was opened for women team sports. Every little girl(or parent of one) that plays soccer or any other team sport should say "thank you" to the Fab Five and what they have done for women sports. With Athens 2004 gold medals in soccer, softball and possibly basketball women's team sports are at an all-time high and should continue as more young girls look to the Fab Five for inspiration.

Mia Hamm and U.S. soccer win gold

Mia Hamm and her United States team beat Brazil 2-1 to win Olympic gold in the women's soccer tournament. For Hamm, widely regarded as the best ever female player, it was a fitting end to a glittering 17-year career. At the age of 32 she has said this was to be her last international game. Mia, who helped the U.S. win the World Cup in 1991 and 1999, has scored154 goals in 266 international games. Mia Hamm is from Fairfax, Virginia. But the star of this game was Abby Wambach, who hit a header in the 22nd minute of extra time to give the U.S. their second Olympic title after winning at the 1996 Atlanta Games. It was Wambach's 18th goal in her last 20 games. The U.S. team was a disappointing Silver winner in Sydney in 2000 and was not favored to win in Athens this year. The U.S. beat Germany, also winning in extra time, in the semi-final earlier this week. Lindsay Tarpley scored the first goal for the U.S. to give then a 1-0 lead going into the second half. But Brazil scored late to force the game into overtime.

May and Walsh win beach volleyball gold

Called by some the best women's beach volleyball team ever, May and Walsh finished off their first Olympic competition together with a perfect record and a gold medal after beating Brazil 21-17, 21-11, in the final match. Earlier in the night Americans Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs beat an injured Natalie Cook and partner Nicole Sanderson of Australia 21-18, 15-21, 15-9 to claim the bronze medal.

U.S. softball wins gold

Congratulations to the United States women's softball team for their 5-1 win over Australia in the Olympic gold medal game. The one run allowed was the only run allowed by the U.S. during the Olympics. The United States dominated the competition in Athens, winning all nine games played. It was the third straight gold for the Americans, who have won 79 straight games in international competition. Australia took silver and Japan received the bronze medal. The U.S. jumped out to an early lead and slammed the door with masterful pitching. The win was also an emotional one for the Americans. Sue Candrea, the wife of American head coach Mike Candrea, died suddenly about a month before the Olympics. All of the U.S. players marked their uniforms with a "SC" to remember the woman who toured with them as they prepared for Athens. "We just wanted nothing more to do this and have Sue be a part of it," said U.S. player Leah Amico, who left the field in tears as she thought about how much the gold medal would have meant to the woman the U.S. players called their "angel in the outfield.."

Phelps gets eighth olympic medal

ATHENS (Reuters) - Michael Phelps got his eighth medal at the Athens Olympics Saturday without even getting wet when the United States broke the world record in the men's 4x100 meters medley relay. The 19-year-old American did not swim the final, the last swimming race at the Games, after giving up his spot to Ian Crocker but still gets a medal because he raced in the heats. After a grueling week's work, he ending up with eight medals to match Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin's 1980 record for the most medals at one Games. Phelps had gone into the Games hoping to equal Mark Spitz 's record of seven golds at a single Olympics but finished with six golds and two bronzes, one less gold but one more overall. "I just wanted to be the first Michael Phelps," he said. "I did something that no-one's done before." Read more here

Sarunas leads Lithuania over the U.S.

Led by Sarunas Jasikevicius, Lithuania beat the United States 94-90 in the Olympic men's basketball tournament. Overlooked by the NBA after graduating from the University of Maryland, Jasikevicius scored 11 of his team's last 12 points to bring it from a point down to three up. The United States was up by three with two minutes and 47 seconds left when former Terp guard Jasikevicius hit a three-pointer while being fouled by Lamar Odom to put his team on track for victory at 85-84. He then sank the free throw for a four-point play. He then hit another three to extend the lead to four before Richard Jefferson, battling a horrendous shooting slump, hit his second three of the game. Jaskevicius, who missed a three-pointer that would have beaten the United States in the semifinals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, then hit another three. He followed that with two free throws, making him high scorer of the game with 28 points. Lithuania is now 4-0 in Olympic play and the U.S. is 2-2. Since graduating from the University of Maryland, he has played in Europe hoping to some day get a chance to play in the NBA, a league he still looks up to and called "the best league in the world." "None, basically," was his response when asked by reporters if he had received any offers from any of the NBA's 30 teams.

Phelps wins fifth gold medal

Michael Phelps won the men's 100 meters butterfly by one stroke to collect his fifth gold medal of the Games. That with two bronzes allowed him to join Americans Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi as the only swimmers to win seven medals at an Olympics. Phelps beat American team mate Ian Crocker on the final stroke to win gold in 51.25 seconds. Crocker clocked 51.29. With just one more swimming event left for him at the Games, Phelps could go into the record books with Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin in 1980 as the only people to win eight medals at a single Olympics. But, Phelps has decided not to swim the relay final Saturday, so his good friend Ian Crocker can swim instead and possibly win a gold. The wiiner of the 100 meter butterfly was suspose to swim in the relay final, but Phelps wants Ian to have a chance at the gold. Phelps would still get a medal (if the relay team medals) because he swam in the relay preliminaries. "Michael is already assured whatever medal the relay wins tomorrow night," said Phelps's coach Bob Bowman. Phelps said giving up his place was tough but the best decision for the team. "Ian is one of the greatest relay swimmers in the U.S. team and he wasn't feeling too well in the freestyle relay," he said. "But I am willing to give him a chance to step up tomorrow night and hopefully win that relay. "We came into this meet as a team and we're going to leave it as a team. Phelps has won gold in the 200 and 400 individual medley, 100 and 200 butterfly and 4x200 freestyle relay. He has also collected bronzes in the 200 freestyle and 4x100 freestyle relay. The 100 butterfly brought him his seventh Olympic medal, matching the total achieved by Spitz in 1972 and a third American Matt Biondi in 1988. His Olympics over, Phelps is now looking forward to indulging in some fast food -- hamburgers, fries and apple pie. "It's a good thing to be able to sit back and relax a little but when tomorrow's final comes I will be in the stands and cheering as hard as I can for the U.S. team," he said.

Patterson wins gold in gymnastics

ATHENS, Greece - The 20-year wait is over. America has its new Mary Lou, and her name is Carly Patterson. Compare that to Khorkina, who was graceful and elegant in every sense, but stumbled ever so slightly during one pirouette and didn’t have the burst off the mat to go with her trademark flamboyance. When Patterson’s winning score was posted, coach Evgeny Marchenko lifted her on his left shoulder and paraded her in front of the fans — a champion’s chariot for a championship effort. “I don’t even know what to say right now,” Patterson said. “You dream about this your whole life. Then you win the gold medal. It’s just amazing.” The other American in the competition, Courtney Kupets, struggled all night and finished ninth. Last year at world championships, it was Khorkina edging out Patterson. Two moments stood out then: Khorkina leaving the floor and admitting she was uninterested while Patterson was performing the decisive routine on vault. Then, at the medalists’ news conference, Patterson stepping onto the podium to be greeted by Khorkina, who started flipping through a magazine to show the American her latest modeling pictures. An arrogant insult? Maybe so. “I just thought, ‘Whatever?”’ Patterson said last month. “I’ll go out and do my gymnastics and the best person will win.” She did just that. During the medals ceremony, Patterson sang along to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” played at the arena for the second straight night, and she looked to be blinking back tears. Khorkina, meanwhile, stared at the scoreboard and smiled at the fans, most of whom had come to see her. As she closed her night dancing to “Acropolis Adieu,” there was a sense that this was her time, and her arena. Once the music started, Khorkina was sexy, seductive, beautiful. Her tumbling passes were graceful and fluid, not the work of a pure jock but of a ballerina who simply works the jumps into the bigger show. But there were mistakes. Often in the past, they have been overlooked, a bow to a star who at times has seemed bigger than the sport. But when the score, a 9.562. popped up, Khorkina nodded knowingly. She had left the door open, and Patterson took advantage. Waiting for the start signal, Marchenko gave her a thumbs-up and she nodded back. The highlights of her routine had little to do with dance, and lots to do with jumping. On her third tumbling pass, she did two somersaults, and when they were complete, she was still hanging high enough that she could look down and pick the exact spot she wanted to land. She landed perfectly — on all four passes, and that was the difference between first and second. “I just knew I had to stick a good floor routine,” Patterson said. “After my last pass, I knew it.” Khorkina’s best event is uneven bars, and two rotations earlier, she scored a 9.725. Patterson answered with a 9.575, a much better effort than in team finals, when she got caught up during one of her spins and lost precious tenths of points that made the difference in America’s silver-medal showing against Romania. Two nights later, though, Patterson got her gold, and Americans found a new gymnastics star.

Hamm wins gold in gymnastics all-around

ATHENS (Reuters) - Paul Hamm etched his name into the record books as he became the first American man to win the Olympic gymnastics all-round crown Wednesday Hamm overcame a fall from the vault to grab a last gasp victory with the final routine of the day for a total score of 57.823. "I thought after the vault I cost myself any medal. My thought was I should shoot for bronze," said a jubilant Hamm after adding the Olympic gold to the world title he won last August. "I dug down deep and gave it everything I had on the parallel bars and high bar. And after high bar, my coach said 'all right Olympic champion, and I said 'what, no way'." Mounting the horizontal bar trailing in fourth place, Hamm completed his gravity-defying routine to perfection and threw his arms up in the air in victory even before the judges had declared their verdict. His final score of 9.837 was enough to edge out South Korean's Kim Dae-eun by just 0.012 of a point and spark off ecstatic celebrations around the Olympic Indoor Hall. Read more here

Phelps gets two more golds

ATHENS (Reuters) - Michael Phelps took his haul of gold medals at the Athens Olympics to three on Tuesday after winning the 200 meters butterfly and helping the United States beat Australia in the 4x200 freestyle relay. The American also has two bronze medals and with three events still to go, he now seems certain to become first swimmer to win eight medals at a single Olympics. The American posted the second fastest time in history to win the 200 butterfly in one minute 54.04 seconds, just 0.11 outside the world record he set at last year's world championships. He was under world record pace at the halfway stage but began to slow down on the turn for home before holding off the late charge of Japan's Takashi Yamamoto and Stephen Parry, who provided Britain with their first Olympic swimming medal since the Atlanta Games in 1996. Phelps returned to the pool an hour later to join Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay and Klete Keller for a dramatic relay battle with Australia. Phelps swam the lead-off leg and the U.S. had a big lead heading into the final changeover but Ian Thorpe, winner of the 200 individual gold the previous night, began to close on Keller. With everyone in the stadium on their feet roaring, Thorpe looked as though he would pass Keller in the final few meters but the American held on to reach the wall just 0.13 seconds ahead with Italy third. "It was probably the most exciting race I've ever been part of," Phelps said. "I knew Klete would come through. He anchored the relay perfectly. He held off the greatest 200 freestyler in history." Thorpe, who was aiming for his third gold of the Games, said: "We've owned this event since 1998 so this is a disappointing result.

Go Brasil!!!

OK, I really want the USA to win, but how could you not cheer for this?

Phelps gets first gold

ATHENS, Greece - Michael Phelps of Towson, Maryland won his first Olympic gold medal and broke his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley Saturday night, an impressive start to his quest to eclipse Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven gold medals. Phelps won with a time of 4 minutes, 8.26 seconds, breaking the record of 4:08.41 that he set last month at the U.S. Olympic trials in Long Beach, Calif.

Top U.S. Olympians to watch

1. Michael Phelps How many? The first week of the Olympics will be all about keeping count of Phelps’ swimming medals in individual and relay events, projecting his chase of Mark Spitz (seven golds in 1972). The tireless Phelps is most dominant in the individual medley, most vulnerable in the backstroke. Even though swimming is one of the more frustrating spectator sports, Phelps is about to become one famous bobbing cap. 2. Bryan and Tom Remember the decathlon hype over Dan (O’Brien) and Dave (Johnson)? There’s a big difference with Tom Pappas and Bryan Clay. "We both made the team," Pappas said, smiling. That’s as big a yuck as you’re likely to hear from the soft-spoken Pappas, who went into the Olympic trials as the heavily-favored, heavily-publicized star with the Greek heritage. Then Clay beat him, soundly, and all of a sudden designers of Wheaties boxes were very confused. Clay is more outspoken than Pappas, and predicts a one-two finish at the Olympics. TV loves decathletes, because the event extends 3. Kerri Walsh and Misty May This photogenic beach volleyball pair became famous during the Super Bowl, when they were featured in a likeable Visa ad. Now they better win a gold medal, or it’s back to Dan and Dave, again. Walsh, 25, is considered the best player in the world right now. May, recovering from an abdominal muscle strain, teamed with Holly McPeak for a fifth-place finish in Sydney. With Walsh, she is expected to fare much better. 4. Courtney Kupets Courtney Kupets and Courtney McCool are a pair of 18-year-old gymnasts on the deepest, most dominant gymnastics team in U.S. history. They’re still trying to figure out what they should be called in Athens, to avoid confusion. While you’re at it, keep an eye on the third star of this team – Carly Patterson. New rules changes in Olympic gymnastics give greater weight to apparatus specialists. The U.S. is stocked at every station 5. Tim Duncan The San Antonio center is the rock that stands between the American NBA stars and the first humiliation of a so-called Dream Team. The other nations have shooters, they have passers, they have rebounders. Some even have pains in the neck like Allen Iverson. None has a Duncan, though, who faces enormous responsibility and pressure that comes with his unique, big-man talent 6. Mia Hamm This is the fond farewell to a golden generation of stars, personified by Hamm. After losses in Sydney and at the 2003 World Cup, Hamm, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain and all the others are looking for a graceful, triumphant exit. Ask Hamm what she hopes her legacy will be with the team, she says, "Dental insurance." Her teammates will probably remember her for more than that. 7. Marion Jones There are better track athletes these days (Maurice Greene, Alan Webb, Stacy Dragila, Jamie Nieto, Jeremy Wariner). But you can’t take your eyes off this exquisite athlete, or the headlines that trail behind her. Jones is only a threat for an individual medal in the long jump, and that event is rarely one of the sexier competitions. But Carl Lewis once proved that a star can turn a landing pit into a takeoff board for celebrity. The big question: Will the track coaches include Marion in the relays, knowing there is a chance her drug scandal may explode and all medals might have to be returned? 8. Venus Williams Yes, we know tennis is not that important at the Olympics, and that everybody is pointing instead to the U.S. Open that follows within days. But with Serena withdrawing, Venus has all our attention and will try to win without her sister, and bring home the gold medal. Unfortunately, Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova didn’t qualify, because her ranking was too low at the time the Russian team was selected. 9. Lisa Fernandez Forget all the hype over photogenic Jennie Finch. The star of the softball team remains Fernandez, the overpowering pitcher who can start any number of games in a row without tiring. 10. Rulon Gardner Gardner was a breakout story in Sydney, where he finally beat the unbeatable Russian bear, Aleksandr Karelin, in the super heavyweight division of Greco-Roman wrestling. Now, Gardner could be even bigger, because he is coming back at age 33 from a snowmobile accident that cost him a toe. Gardner remains a breath of fresh air in this sport, an unspoiled farmer’s kid from Afton, Wyoming. He’s as tough to knock off his feet as Jim Brown.

Put your face on your stamps

The US postal service is going to offer personalized postage stamps.

Instead of the traditional flags or flowers, you can put anything from your children, your portrait or a corporate logo on the stamp using your home computer.

While cute, they are a little costly.

A sheet of 20 first class stamps costs more than twice as much as traditional 37-cent stamps.A package of twenty stamps for use on a standard 1-ounce envelope runs $16.99. The price includes $7.40 for the twenty 37-cent stamps, $2.99 for shipping, and the costs of photographic-quality printing.

This is the first time the postal service has parted from tradition and allowed living people on stamps. Because the stamps fall under USPS regulations for metered mail, they are exempt from regular stamp rules, which prohibits living people on stamps and only allows those who have been dead at least 10 years.

Stamps carry a bar code and serial number to prevent counterfeiting.

Each submitted design will be reviewed for controversial or copy written material.

More information on custom stamps is available at US Photo Stamps

Boston is top sports city

From FOXSports

Over 12 months, stretching roughly from July to July, Boston was the Hub of the sports universe that the Sporting News covers -- a city that celebrated and commiserated, exulted and agonized (again) over a year's most dramatic victories and cursed defeats.

Taking into account not only the sheer quantity of courses in its year-round sports feast and the depth and breadth of fan fervor (OK, and often angst), but also the quality of the teams in the sports we cover, Boston is our Best Sports City for 2004.

The Top 25

1. Boston
2. Oakland-San Francisco-San Jose
3. New York-Long Island-New Jersey
4. Houston
5. Los Angeles-Anaheim
6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale
7. Detroit
8. Dallas-Fort Worth
9. Philadelphia
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul
11. Chicago
12. Denver
13. Atlanta
14. Tampa-St. Petersburg
15. Seattle
16. Indianapolis
17. Baltimore-Washington
18. St. Louis
19. Nashville
20. Phoenix
21. Charlotte
22. New Orleans
23. Salt Lake City
24. Pittsburgh
25. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C

Teen Choice Awards

Below is a complete list of winners of the 2004 Teen Choice Awards. The Show will be broadcast this Wednesday on FOX, so don't read if you don't want to know who won what.

Movies:
Date Movie: "50 First Dates."
Movie, Comedy: "Shrek 2."
Movie Actor, Comedy: Adam Sandler, "50 First Dates."
Movie Thriller: "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
Movie Actress, Comedy: Lindsay Lohan.
Movie Actress, Drama/Adventure: Halle Berry, "Gothika."
Movie Hissy Fit: Lindsay Lohan, "Mean Girls."
Movie Blush: Lindsay Lohan, "Mean Girls."
Movie Sleazebag: Seann William Scott, "American Wedding."
Movie Breakout Star Actress: Lindsay Lohan, "Mean Girls," "Freaky Friday."
Movie Your Parents Didn't Want You to See: "American Wedding."
Television:
TV Show, Drama/Action Adventure, "The O.C."
TV, Reality/Variety: "Punk'd."
TV Show, Late Night: "Saturday Night Live."
TV Breakout Show: "The O.C."
TV Actress, Drama/Adventure: Jennifer Garner, "Alias."
TV Actor, Drama/Adventure: Adam Brody, "The O.C."
TV Sidekick: Sean Hayes, "Will & Grace."
TV Personality: Ashton Kutcher.
TV Breakout Star, Female: Mischa Barton, "The O.C."
TV Breakout Star, Male: Chad Michael Murray, "One Tree Hill."
Reality/Variety TV Star: Ashton Kutcher, "Punk'd."
Reality/Variety Jackass: Simon Cowell, "American Idol."
Music:
Single: "Toxic," Britney Spears.
Album: "Confessions," Usher.
R&B Artist: Usher.
R&B Track: "Yeah," Usher with Ludacris and Lil Jon.
Love Song: "I Miss You," Blink-182.
Hook Up: "Yeah," Usher with Ludacris and Lil Jon.
Tour of the Year: No Doubt and Blink-182.
Song of the Summer: "Pieces of Me," Ashlee Simpson.
Additional Awards:
Ultimate Choice Award: Mike Myers.
Courage Award: Bethany Hamilton.
Male Athlete: Tony Hawk.
Female Athlete: Mia Hamm.
Comedian: Adam Sandler.
Fresh Face: Ashlee Simpson.

Greg Maddux the last 300 game winner?

Chicago Cub's Greg Maddux beat Philadelphia for his 300th victory this week. Why is this so important? Because not only does the win cement Maddux's spot in Cooperstown, but he may be the last pitcher to win 300 games in a career. When Grover Cleveland Alexander won his 300th game in 1924, Chicago Tribune beat writer Irving Vaughan didn't consider the stat important enough to mention in his game story. Times have changed and so has pitching in baseball. "The bar of excellence for pitching has gone from 300 wins to probably 275 or 250," said New York Met's left-hander Tom Glavine who, with 259 career wins, is the closest active pitcher other than Maddux to 300. "That's just a recognition by people that offense has been so enhanced over the last decade or so and it's harder and harder for pitchers to go out there and . . . succeed at a high level." But baseball's emphasis on offense is only one reason 300-game winners have apparently gone the way of flannel uniforms and the spitball. Five-man rotations have reduced the number of starts a pitcher gets, and pitch counts and relief specialists have reduced the number of innings they'll pitch once they get to the mound. Add in that lucrative contracts are making careers shorter and you wind up with a pitcher such as Boston's Curt Shilling, a six-time all-star and two-time runner-up for the Cy Young Award who has fewer career starts (359) than Alexander had wins. "That's just an unconceivable number to me," Schilling said of 300 wins. Which brings us back to Alexander, the only other pitcher to win his 300th game in a Cubs uniform. While 300-game winners hadn't become commonplace by the time Alexander became one in 1924, they weren't unusual, either. Alexander was the 11th to win that many and the fourth to do so in a dozen years, so perhaps the milestone didn't bear mentioning in The Tribune. But only 10 men have done it since -- with Roger Clemens, who won his 300th last summer, the only one to do so in the past 14 seasons. All of which makes Maddux's desire to treat today like just another start laughable. "You win as many games as you have over the years and now everything is supposed to change because you're going for 300?" he told USA Today. "It's not normal. I want to keep things as normal as possible." Maddux, 38, got his start in Chicago but won 204 games in 11 years with the Atlanta Braves before re-signing with the Cubs as a free agent this winter. And aside from his 300th win, with five more victories he can extend to 17 his record of consecutive seasons with 15 or more wins. That, Maddux told The Associated Press, is the record he's aiming at. "When it's all said and done, yeah, you might look back and pat yourself on the back," he said. "Right now for me, personally, I would much rather win 15 games and have a chance to pitch in the postseason. That means more to me than winning 300. "I know in order to do that I'll bypass [300] somewhere along the way. It's hard to say it's just another game, but it is." Here is the list of 300 game winners. 1. Cy Young 511 2. Walter Johnson 417 3. Grover Cleveland Alexander 373 Christy Mathewson 373 5. Warren Spahn 363 6. Pud Galvin 361 7. Kid Nichols 360 8. Tim Keefe 341 9. Steve Carlton 329 10. John Clarkson 327 11. Eddie Plank 326 12. Nolan Ryan 324 Don Sutton 324 14. x-Roger Clemens 322 15. Phil Niekro 318 16. Gaylord Perry 314 17. Tom Seaver 311 18. Hoss Radbourn 310 19. Mickey Welch 309 20. Lefty Grove 300 Early Wynn 300 x-Greg Maddux 300

Saved!

According to MTV, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe and his Single Cell Pictures partner Sandy Stern are in talks to turn their latest hit, "Saved!," into a TV series and Broadway musical. I didn't see the movie "Saved!", but it is on my list to "rent" when it goes to video. I want to see it because I like R.E.M. and Mandy Moore. I know the movie got mixed reviews but seems like it could make a good TV show.

It's not easy being gorgeous

So says Halle Berry in this Associated Press story

LONDON -- It's not easy being gorgeous. Halle Berry should know. "Beauty? Let me tell you something — being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life," she said. "No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory." At a news conference Monday to promote her new movie, "Catwoman," the 35-year-old Berry criticized the obsession with beauty and youth that she said prompted some to get plastic surgery. "Personally, I'm really saddened by the way women mutilate their faces today in search of that," said Berry, who won an Oscar for "Monster's Ball." ...Read full story

Read a good book lately?

USA TODAY BESTSELLERS

Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback

1. "The 9/11 Commission Report" (Norton) (NF-P)

2. "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks (Warner) (F-P)

3. "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown (Pocket Star) (F-P)

4. "Hello, Darkness" by Sandra Brown (Pocket Star) (F-P)

5. "The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks (Warner) (F-P)

6. "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown (Doubleday) (F-H)

7. "Bleachers" by John Grisham (Dell) (F-P)

8. "My Life" by Bill Clinton (Knopf) (NF-H)

9. "R is for Ricochet" by Sue Grafton (Putnam) (F-H)

10. "Skinny Dip" by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf) (F-H)

11. "The South Beach Diet" by Arthur Agatston (Rodale) (NF-H)

12. "The South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide" by Arthur Agatston (Rodale) (NF-P)

13. "The Bourne Supremacy" by Robert Ludlum (Bantam) (F-P)

14. "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren (Zondervan) (NF-H)

15. "Sam's Letters to Jennifer" by James Patterson (Little, Brown) (F-H)

16. "The Rule of Four" by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason (Dial) (F-H)

17. "The Five People You Meet in Heaven: A Novel" by Mitch Albom (Hyperion) (F-H)

18. "Blindside" by Catherine Coulter (Jove) (F-P)

19. "Deception Point" by Dan Brown (Pocket) (F-P)

20. "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin) (F-P)

21. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon (Vintage) (F-P)

22. "Digital Fortress" by Dan Brown (St. Martin's) (F-P)

23. "Shadow Divers" by Robert Kurson (Random House) (NF-H)

24. "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold, (Back Bay) (F-P)

25. "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" by David Sedaris (Little, Brown) (NF-H)

26. "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss (Penguin) (NF-H)

27. "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger (Harvest) (F-P)

28. "The Vanished Man" by Jeffery Deaver (Pocket) (F-P)

29. "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi (Random House) (NF-P)

30. "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel (Harcourt) (F-P)

31. "The Devil Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger (Broadway) (F-P)

32. "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov (Spectra) (F-P)

33. "When He Was Wicked" by Julia Quinn (Avon) (F-P)

34. "Ten Big Ones" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's Press) (F-H)

35. "Prophecy" by Sylvia Browne (Dutton) (F-H)

36. "The South Beach Diet Cookbook" by Arthur Agatston (Rodale Press) (NF-H)

37. "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum (Bantam) (F-P)

38. "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire (ReganBooks) (F-P)

39. "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy; translated by Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky (Penguin Classic) (F-P)

40. "Imperial Hubris" by Anonymous (Brassey's, Inc.) (NF-H)

41. "Sense of Evil" by Kay Hooper (Bantam) (F-P)

42. "Isle of Palms" by Dorothea Benton Frank (Berkley) (F-P)

43. "The Manchurian Candidate" by Richard Condon (Pocket Star) (F-P)

44. "Dark Horse" by Tami Hoag (Bantam) (F-P)

45. "The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah" by Stephen King (Grant) (F-H)

46. "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson (Vintage) (NF-P)

47. "The Automatic Millionaire" by David Bach (Broadway) (NF-H)

48. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee (Warner) (F-P)

49. "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Warner) (NF-P)

50. "Dude, Where's My Country?" by Michael Moore (Warner) (NF-P)